Rochester is synonymous with one of its most famous landmarks, the Mayo Clinic, but there's so much more to the Med City. It began as a frontier town, struggling to make its mark in a sparsely populated wilderness. By the late nineteenth century, Rochester had expanded into a vibrant city, rich with business, educational and cultural opportunities. Rediscover the Dubuque Trail and the beautiful summer lake retreats, along with the Cook Hotel, the Central Fire Station and more. Author Amy Jo Hahn uncovers the lost beginnings of Rochester and brings the stories of this unique place to life.

Tells the stories behind 89 of the lost buildings and landmarks of Minnesota, from rural and small-town Minnesota, as well as from the state's metropolitan and suburban areas.

The author of Lost Rochester explores more Med City history beyond the medicine. Stories surrounding the establishment of Rochester as a medical mecca are well documented and often showcased, but countless other tales haven't received as much attention. William Costley, son of the first slave freed by Abraham Lincoln, lived his last few months at Rochester State Hospital. Beloved citizen Reinhold Bach sailed aboard the doomed ocean liner the Empress of Ireland. The life of Minnie Bowron, hired as the city's first policewoman in 1917, offers an intriguing story, and teenager Lottie Schermerhorn awed crowds during the Roaring Twenties with daredevil aerial stunts. Join historian Amy Jo Hahn on an engaging narrative journey, a revelation of fascinating characters who made their mark on Rochester.

In 1869 The Minnesota Guide summed up Rochester, Minnesota as "a fine business point." Today Rochester is not only a fine business point but also a world-class medical center, a technology town, and a city of such favorable charms and amenities that it has been repeatedly recognized as "the best place to live in America." The story of Rochester's journey from frontier crossroads to international destination is found in Rochester, Minnesota. With nearly 200 photographs and insightful commentary that help preserve the city's rich history, this book is a tribute to the individuals and institutions that gave rise to this classic Midwestern city. The homesteaders of the 19th century, the founders of Rochester's tradition of medical excellence, and many of the enterprises that contributed to Rochester's growth are remembered here.

'One of the best books I've read in the last five or ten years... Wild is angry, brave, sad, self-knowing, redemptive, raw, compelling, and brilliantly written, and I think it's destined to be loved by a lot of people, men and women, for a very long time.' Nick Hornby

In 1942, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Sinclair Lewis wrote that the Lanesboro area was "...worthy of Vermont in its sturdy quietude. Through all this district, secret little valleys branch off from the major valleys of the Root River, and there is room enough and view enough for 11,000 poets." Promoted in the late 1860s to east coast investors as an idyllic retreat, Lanesboro was established as a resort community and soon realized an impressive boom due to its unparalleled waterpower. Progressing not as a tourist area, but rather along other avenues of commerce, the community once hailed as the 'biggest little town in southeastern Minnesota' fell off the fast track of growth before its charm could be diminished by too much progress. Today Lanesboro's beautiful 1870s downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the entire city is a haven for the arts-a showcase for the natural beauty that Sinclair Lewis touted more than sixty years ago.

The story of Mayo Clinic begins on the Minnesota prairie following a devastating tornado in 1883. It also begins with the women who joined the growing practice as physicians, as laboratory researchers, as developers of radium therapy and cancer treatments, and as innovators in virtually all aspects of patient care, education, and research. While these women contributed to the clinic’s origins and success, their roles have not been widely celebrated—until now. Women of Mayo Clinic traces those early days from the perspectives of more than forty women—nurses, librarians, social workers, mothers, sisters, and wives—who were instrumental in the world-renowned medical center’s development. Mother Alfred Moes persuaded Dr. William Worrall Mayo to take on the hospital project. Edith Graham was the first professionally trained nurse to work at the practice. Alice Magaw developed a national reputation administering anesthesia in the operating rooms there. Maud Mellish Wilson established the library and burnished the clinic’s standing through widely distributed publications about its innovations. Virginia Wright-Peterson tells the stories of these and other talented, dedicated pioneers through institutional records and clippings from the period, introducing a welcome new perspective on the history of both Mayo Clinic and women in medicine.